"Essence of Joy," the Penn State University School of Music choral ensemble, which performs sacred and secular music from the African and African American traditions, will perform in the Libraries at 2 p.m. Jan. 19, as part of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration celebration. The performance will take place in the main lending services area, Pattee Library, and is sponsored by the University Libraries Diversity Committee and Digital Library Technologies, a unit of Information Technology Services.
Essence of Joy is one of 10 choral ensembles in the Penn State University School of Music. Under the direction of its founder, Anthony Leach, associate professor of music and music education at Penn State, the choir has toured extensively, both in the United States, and internationally. It has released a number of compact disc recordings, including “The Soul of Essence,” “The Spirit of Essence,” "Essence Live, Lift Every Voice and Sing," and "Our Gift in Song." For more information on Essence of Joy, e-mail Leach at atl105@psu.edu, or go to http://www.clubs.psu.edu/up/essenceofjoy/.